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The autonomic nervous system has long been viewed as a simple motor system in brain-to-body signalling. In this review, Wang and colleagues highlight diversity within autonomic neurons and their dynamic roles across physiological systems and disease contexts.
In humans, repulsion effects occur in specific subfields of the hippocampus and are associated with the presence of distinct internal beliefs about highly similar visual inputs.
In a mouse model of multiple sclerosis, trafficking into the brain parenchyma of the peripheral myeloid cells that are involved in the symptomaptology is shown to occur predominantly via the velum interpositum, a leptomeningeal tract that runs underneath the hippocampal formation.
The balance between neural excitation (E) and inhibition (I) shapes cognition, development and brain-based disorders. Electroencephalography and magnetic resonance spectroscopy allow non-invasive quantification of the E/I ratio but yield discrepancies that challenge their use in this context. Addressing these differences is essential for advancing biomarkers and brain-based therapies.
Optical microscopy allows neural cells to be studied in the intact brain, but imaging deep neural tissue presents substantial challenges. Prevedel and colleagues outline the principles of three-photon microscopy, highlighting its advantages for deep tissue imaging and its applications in neuroscience.
Recent years have seen a growth in our understanding of the biological drivers of eating disorders and their interactions with environmental and psychosocial factors. Foldi and Griffiths consider how interdisciplinary research, dimensional diagnostic approaches and improved animal models may enable the development of more effective treatments for these disorders.
The cerebellum helps ensure the speed and accuracy of movements, but its precise contributions to movement control are unclear. Nguyen and Person here evaluate evidence for and against feedforward motor control by the cerebellum in light of its well-defined role in a model of associative learning, and reconcile this with theories of internal model-based control.
A polyA-tail-directed RNA sequencing approach that was used to investigate transcriptomic changes in dorsal root ganglia following nerve crush revealed unexpected upregulation of a specific set of B2-SINE transcriptional regulators that facilitate neuronal repair by co-ordinating axon transport and local translation.
Movement-related dopamine neuronal activity in the tail of the striatum encodes a value-free action prediction error that reinforces state-action associations, biasing mice to repeat past actions.
Consciousness may be inferred in others through observable behaviours such as facial expressions and vocalizations. However, such overt reporting has limitations, leading to research on physiological signals that disclose consciousness without relying on overt behaviour. In this Review, Kronemer, Bandettini and Gonzalez-Castillo explore such covert measures of consciousness in humans.
The visual systems of vertebrates and insects exhibit considerable similarities. In this Review, Tanaka and Portugues discuss these similarities, focusing primarily on recent works in larval zebrafish and fruitflies and expanding the scope of the comparison from past examinations of this area.
The brain’s high lipid content, iron levels and oxygen metabolism uniquely predispose it to ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of regulated cell death. In this Review, Lei et al. discuss brain-specific vulnerabilities and the physiological and pathological implications of neuroferroptosis.
Despite a global push to recognize Indigenous knowledge systems in research, neuroscience remains embedded in Euro-Western ways of means and methods. Authentic capacity-building will bring Indigenous ways of knowing and doing to the neuroscience workforce, to research and to training, and will lead to diversified and strengthened approaches to discovery and clinical care strategies.
The capacity to prevent unwanted thoughts is important for cognitive function and mental health. Anderson et al. describe insights into the neural mechanisms of the inhibitory control of thought that have been gained from studies of retrieval stopping and discuss how this knowledge informs our understanding of psychiatric disorders associated with intrusive thinking.
Mutations in the gene encoding the methyl-DNA-binding protein MECP2 cause Rett syndrome. Jaenisch and colleagues here provide an overview of our current understanding of the mechanisms by which MECP2 interacts with DNA and its diverse roles in gene regulation, and consider the implications of these insights for future therapeutic interventions.
A possible mechanism for the increased incidence of mood disorders in people with immune system disorders such as psoriasis is revealed where, in mice, elevated serum levels of the cytokines IL-17A and IL-17C induce anxiety-like symptoms via activation of neurons in the anterior basolateral amygdala.
The functional roles of the striatal indirect pathway remain unclear. In this Perspective, Lee and Sabatini propose that a three-factor learning rule governs the activity of indirect striatal projection neurons, contributing to the learnt avoidance of actions with negative outcomes and the transition to alternative actions.